School Resources

Curricular Resources and Websites

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is nationally recognized as a leader in teaching and learning. Our rigorous instructional program engages students in learning through relevant, real-world classroom experiences. The HCPSS curriculum is written by Howard County teachers and is designed to provide students a thorough grounding in essential knowledge and skills that will give them a leading edge in tomorrow's global environment.

What Your Child Will Learn guides provide an overview of the instructional program for your child’s grade, as well as student goals and expectations. The guides include information to help parents monitor and support their child’s progress during the school year.

Service learning is a teaching method that combines meaningful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Students improve their academic skills by applying what they learn in school to the real world; they then reflect on their experience to reinforce the link between their service and their learning.

The new model provides a more customized educational experience, expands opportunities for the study of world languages and devotes more time for the study of Mathematics, English/Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Reading will be an integral component of content area classes in order to give students experience in reading, analyzing and writing about discipline-based text.

The Howard County Public School System acknowledges and supports the rights of all students to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that will enable them to develop their unique talents and abilities, thus preparing them to participate in and serve their community with dignity and pride. We offer a continuum of services and programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Each Career Academy offers a recommended sequence of courses, internships, capstone project, or research project related to students' career goals, and the opportunity to earn college credit and/or industry certification while in high school. Start planning now.

Middle School Assessments

Students in HCPSS middle schools take a variety of standardized tests and assessments to prepare for the rigor of high school.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states developing assessments to measure student achievement in English Language Arts (ELA)/ Literacy and Mathematics for grades 3-8 and high school. The primary purpose of PARCC is to provide high quality assessments of students’ progression toward postsecondary readiness and success. The PARCC tests are designed to match the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards and assess whether students are meeting grade-level expectations. The new assessments replace the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) in English and mathematics in grades 3-8.